Intel launches new communication platform

In order to enable more effective handling of data-processing across networks without compromising security, global computer chip maker Intel Corporation announced the features of its next-generation communication platform in the city this week.

Codenamed Crystal Forest, the product aims to address the needs of cloud computing, faster content processing and Internet transactions at speeds of up to 100 Gbps. Currently, equipment manufacturers combine silicon co-processors with various software programmes to handle the high workload.

R.K. Hiremane, regional director, Datacenter and Connected Systems Product Marketing, Intel (Asia-Pacific), said equipment manufacturers and service providers, while having to handle the explosion in Internet traffic without sacrificing performance and security, also have to keep costs under control.

“For telecom companies, for instance, the average revenue per user (commonly ARPU in industry parlance) is on the decline, so companies are forced to reduce operational costs. Standard servers like the ones we offer would help them save operation costs and increase their revenue opportunities,” he added.

But what does this technology mean for the common user? Mr. Hiremane says the technology used in Crystal Forest would enable telecom companies to offer better services, while enabling them to reinvest their cost savings in upgraded services.

S. Natarajan, country business manager – Embedded Markets, Intel (South Asia), said the increasing broadband penetration in India, driven by demand for wired as well as wireless technologies, would result in increased demand for better network performance.

“Intel’s next-generation communication platform provides flexibility, scalability and efficiency to address the challenges of service providers,” he said.

Intel believes its latest offering will help in processing multimedia content without compromising on the security aspect.

This is especially significant because a lot of the traffic is now in the form of multimedia content.

Company sources explained that Crystal Forest is expected to deliver 160 million packets per second for Layer 3 forwarding. This would enable the movement of thousands of high-definition videos across networks with little disruptions, which is currently the bane of many networks.

Previously, only ASIC or specialised processors were capable of sending more than 100 million packets per second, they pointed out. The product was launched in the first week of October in the U.S. and is currently being shipped to markets across the globe.